Entwined
by Dragoink
Summary: Kinomoto Sakura worked hard to change schools in order to be with her best friend, Tomoyo. She didn't know that her services as a Card Captor would be required at this filthy rich school where an experiment in the Black Magic Club had gone terribly wrong.
1. Prologue

**ENTWINED**

**- **_**Dragoink

* * *

**_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ouran High School Host Club or Card Captor Sakura. They belong to Bisco Hatori and CLAMP respectively.

* * *

**Prologue**

The cauldron spewed some smoke as the blonde boy with a dark wig continued to stir its contents in the dark room. The firewood placed beneath the cauldron crackled a bright red. The only other source of light was the candle which was placed at one far corner of the room such that the rays of light do not fall on the boy at all. He stirred the cauldron for another ten minutes in the clockwise direction and then had to stop for two minutes, as the instructions in the book said. In those two minutes, he gave instructions to the other club members in the actual doings of the rituals.

"Alright, boys -" said Nekozawa Umehito, nodding.

"- and girls" added Tachibana Rei, frowning.

"- and girls" said Nekozawa, as he threw a smile in her direction.

"This is it." said Matsumoto Rika, her eyes alight in excitement.

"The one we've all been waiting for" murmured Ikkaku Reiji and yawned quietly. Matsumoto Hatori nodded fervently.

"Scented candles" said Nekozawa, smiling and nodding.

"Hail all scented candles!" cried the rest of them, while Ikkaku yawned at the end of this proclamation as well.

"Alright. Now, after this, I've got some more stirring to do. So, when my work is done, you will have to assemble around the cauldron in a circle and start the chant. When I raise my right hand, it means you have to assemble in the circle. When I raise both hands, you will start the chant. Got it?" explained Nekozawa.

The others nodded.

It took about five minutes for Umehito to finish his potion stirring as per the instructions. It was at the fourth minute that the others saw the right hand raised and at the fifth minute, both hands were raised and the members assembled in the circle chanted.

The following words filled the air of the Black Magic Club thirteen times: _Nalci jnihs ehtl lafo lufrewop tsomeht dlrowrednueht fosnomed liveht rofgnirb_

By the time the chant was finished, Umehito had bought thirteen candles from the cupboard in the class room. He eased his way to the cauldron as the members of the circle who were four in number had formed the formation by being as distant as they can get from the other person. Once there was silence in the air, only the slosh of candles falling into the emerald-green liquid could be heard. The other members of the Club crowded around the potion, bubbling in the cauldron with curiosity and waited.

To their utter joy, one of the candles which had previously drowned started floating at the surface.

"Well, that wasn't _that_ much of a failure. At least one candle surfaced." said Umehito, optimistically. "Let's try this ritual once again after school starts. Enjoy your holidays, everyone!"

The rest of the club helped their president to put away the cauldron and the firewood. ("Why are we even using firewood?" muttered Ikkaku, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "To make sure the ritual goes well, my fellow Black Magic member!" cried Nekozawa cheerfully, still having the effect of the part-success)

"Right, boss!" said Hatori, as he clutched onto his older sister's hand. "Happy holidays, Nekozawa-sempai, Tachibana-sempai, Reiji-kun!"

"Rei-chan, we have to go. So, come over to my house tomorrow, okay?" asked Rika, as she slapped her brother's pulling hand off her arm. "Stop pulling, Tori! Rei-chan?"

"Yeah, I'll be there" said Rei in a monotone which for a normal person would have seemed disinterested. But the Matsumoto's being anything but normal seemed to be satisfied with the response and left the room after wishing the other club members a good holiday.

Once Reiji and Rei left the room, Umehito took a few vials from the shelves and brought it to the formerly smoke spewing cauldron. He took a few samples from the potion and then poured the rest of the contents in a few containers, for future use. The vials he packed to take to his house while the container was to remain in the school cup-boards. The end-of-year vacation was for two months which gave him enough time to research on the way to make scented candle ritual work, he decided. The cauldron and the stirrer went to the corner of the room where he usually kept things that needed to be washed or cleaned. Finally taking Beelzenef in his hand, he strode out of the room, donning his wig, his cloak and his school bag.

"Maybe it will be in _Potions of Everyday life?_" he thought as he walked to the gates towards the limousine his family owned. Halfway to the gate, he saw that the benches and the chairs that were placed on the grass at the sides of the pathway started to fall teeter and fall suddenly.

"An earthquake?" he murmured, but kept walking.

He didn't see the smoke which spewed from the windows of the Third Chemistry Lab room after a few minutes.

* * *

A crystal present in the cupboard started to glow a bright blue colour. An unnatural wind was created in the Chemistry lab which caused the latch to ease itself open and the doors of the cupboard to open. The cap of the container opened by itself and the container tipped to its side so that a small portion of the potion formed a puddle on the ground. The crystal now glowed a bright, fiery red that the air around it underwent combustion to such a degree that it sent the firewood put away by the club members at the edge of the classroom to catch fire. But the unnatural thing in this is that, out of all the combustible materials in the room, the fire was controlled to only the firewood.

A gnarled hand came out of the puddle of blue potion on the ground. And if one heared closely, one could hear the snarls of an animal crying, _'At last, I get my freedom!' _


	2. Chapter 1

**Entwined**

**Chapter One**

**Place: **Ouran Academy

**Date: **Monday, April 1st

Ouran Academy is one of the most prestigious schools where people of great talent and/or great wealth get the best of education. True, thought Sakura, as she stood in front of the Academy's large iron gates. At first glance, Sakura thought that it was like one of those castles that she had admired on the television when she was small and it made her fondly remember her time capturing the Little. She couldn't resist the feeling of awe at such a large place that she let out a "Hoe-e!" that she was prone to even now, at times of total awe or befuddlement.

Tomoyo, as usual, was taping her with her new handy-cam. She, Sakura amusedly noted, had never really given up on her hobbies of making costumes and video-taping Sakura. She now tapes Sakura during her training sessions with Kero and sometimes Yue. Her guardians were helping her acquire a lot of control and also some more power as she continued to train with them.

"Sakura-chan! You look stunning in that dress!" said Tomoyo, smiling serenely. "Oh, now they're making uniforms to suit you, Sakura! I'm glad!"

Sakura sweat-dropped at her friend's antics. _'Tomoyo-chan's sensible', _she thought, _'but if she gets started on dresses and me, she's not manageable…'_

Sakura knew that she can't stop her best friend now, so she took her best way out – distraction. She looked at her watch.

"Oh, is that the time? We better get going!" she said. "Don't want to be late on the first day, do we?"

"Hai, hai," said Tomoyo, following Sakura's movements with her camera. Only when they entered the front hall of the school did the Daidouji heiress switch off her camera and place it in her bag.

Sakura turned on her heel and faced Tomoyo. "Tomoyo-chan! Where is our class?" she enquired cheerfully.

"Let's see…" said Tomoyo, as she pulled out the map given to them during their orientation. "Walk up those stairs, turn right and walk straight… Last class in the corridor, without taking any turns."

"Okay, come on Tomoyo-chan!"

The pair weren't in a hurry to reach the classroom as they were quite early. Classes start at nine and so Sakura, deciding that they had time to spare, walked slowly looking all around her.

The school intrigued Sakura. The lavishness of the school was only a waste of money for the Card Captor but she didn't think much about it. The aura of the school was filled with confidence, love, happiness, an extent of lust and had a slight dark tinge which she felt she would've missed if she didn't concentrate very well. Sakura was distracted from her observations as her best friend had once again taken out her video-camera and was now video-taping the school.

It took almost ten minutes for them to reach the classroom as they had walked with a snail's pace. Just when they were about to reach the classroom, they took a right turn and walked to the last room in that corridor. They entered the room after knocking twice.

"Ah!" said the man, who sat behind one of the desks. "Kinomoto Sakura and Daidouji Tomoyo?" He was a brunet with blue eyes and wore glasses.

The girls nodded.

"I'm Sato Keiji, your home-room teacher. Could you please wait with Fujioka-san over there? I'll take you three to class once the bell rings." He pointed to the chairs that were placed near the wall of the room. There was a boy with brown eyes and ruffled brown hair. Sakura and Tomoyo bowed to their teacher and then went to sit beside their new classmate.

Sakura put on a big grin as she sat beside the boy. "Fujioka-san! Nice to meet you! Name's Kinomoto Sakura."

The brunet smiled at her. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Fujioka Haruhi," he said, in a voice too high to be a boy's.

"I'm Daidouji Tomoyo. Hajimemashite!" greeted Tomoyo. Fujioka greeted in return.

"Which school did you go to before, Fujioka-san?" asked Sakura.

"Kaibara Middle School. And you, Kinomoto-san?"

"Both of us went to Seijou Middle School in Tomoeda," said Sakura. Fujioka nodded and smiled at them.

"Are you a scholarship student, Fujioka-san?" asked Tomoyo, leaning forward in order to see the boy better.

"Uh, yeah…" said Fujioka, smiling.

"Same as my dear Sakura-chan!" cried Tomoyo, as she wrapped her arms around Sakura's shoulders. She placed her right palm on her cheek. "Ah, I'm going to be able to record Sakura-chan's fight in the academics with Fujioka-san!"

Sakura sweat-dropped while Fujioka looked at them, confused. Sakura noticed this and whispered to her, "Tomoyo-chan is obsessed with video-taping and I'm her favourite model…"

Fujioka smiled at her and said, "Well, I hope to match up to you if she decides to take me as well, seeing as it is our competition."

At that moment, the bell rang signaling the start of the first day of the school year. Sato-sensei who was doing some paperwork, stood as he arranged the papers.

"Well then, let's go."

The trio followed Sato-sensei to their classroom. The noisy classroom became silent as soon as the four of them entered the class.

Sato-sensei placed the papers on the table and addressed the occupants of the room. "Good morning students for your first year of high school. Today, we have three new students with us, Fujioka Haruhi, Kinomoto Sakura and Daidouji Tomoyo." He turned to write their names on the board. As he started, he looked to the trio and said, "Introduce yourselves, please."

Sakura went first. "Good morning!" she said; her voice was cheerful. "I'm Kinomoto Sakura. Please treat me kindly!" she said, bowing.

Tomoyo was followed by Fujioka and the three of them waited to be assigned seats by the teacher.

Sato-sensei smiled as he surveyed the class for empty chairs. "Ah," he said. "There's a seat between the Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru in the third row. Fujioka-san can go there. Daidouji-san can take the seat behind Hitachiin-san -" He pointed to the twin to his right. Tomoyo nodded. "- and Kinomoto-san can sit beside Daidouji-san, behind Kita-san. Please raise your hand, Kita-san."

The girl beside the Hitachiin twin raised her hand letting Sakura and Tomoyo know where to go. The class continued as the notices for the new year and the classes began in usual routine. Sakura found it rather easy to keep up with as she had spent the last year of middle school undergoing such a transformation regarding her studies that even her brother couldn't recognize her when he had visited them last Christmas (he was worried his 'Kaijuu' was turning into a book-worm).

Once, almost a year ago, when Sakura had completed her conversation with Syaoran saying that she was going to stay up that night for studying for a test that was going to come up next week, Syaoran hadn't answered for almost an entire two minutes. Sakura, worried that something must have happened on the other end that would have caused him to be silent, asked him, only to get a shocked reply of "_You_ are learning for a test which is next week, _now_?" with such an air of incredulity that it got Sakura thinking about Kero's reaction to the first time she stayed up late for a test. This, needless to say, got Sakura indignant and there were no phone-calls for Syaoran from Japan for another two weeks. Syaoran was rather apologetic the next time he talked with her.

The bell rang signaling the beginning of the short time interval they had between one class and the next. Sakura grabbed her bag and went to her next class, Chemistry Lab which she shared with Tomoyo. At the lab, they were grouped into threes which caused Sakura to call Fujioka to join their group. The fellow honor student had no qualms about it.

After their teacher introduced herself and took the attendance, they set out doing their first experiment of the school year. Sakura took the time needed for the concoction in their beakers to boil as the chance to get to know her new friend.

"So, Fujioka-san, did you decide which club you are going to join here? I heard that it is mandatory to join clubs here in Ouran."

The brown-haired boy looked up at her and said, "Not really. I'm still deciding. There are some things that I still can't make head or tails of."

"Like?" prodded Tomoyo.

"The Black Magic Club, since it's obviously fake; The Host Club, which I don't understand at all; The Ball Club, which is weird and some more." Fujioka shook his head in exasperation. "What about you two?"

"I am taking the track and gymnastic club while Tomoyo is gonna join the music club. You should hear her sing," added Sakura, her voice filled with pride of her best friend's talent, "she's the best!"

"I'm sure I've ways to go to be the best," said Tomoyo modestly, though Sakura could say that Fujioka looked a bit intrigued by Sakura's proclamation.

By that time, the boiling of the mixture in the beaker had started which caused the trio to postpone any further conversations to later in the day. The experiment was performed perfectly and the class went on without a hitch. Sakura was glad that she had made a new friend in her new school on her first day.

* * *

The rest of the day turned out quite pleasant. There were no incidents that day for the two girls that could be made very memorable for them on the first day of High School.

At half past four, Sakura, who was walking with a new friend she made at the track club, stopped at the fountain in the garden of the school.

"I promised to wait for my friends here, Suzuki-san," she informed to the black haired girl.

"Sure thing, Kinomoto-san! We'll meet up tomorrow at the club!" said Suzuki Aya. "And it's Aya." She then walked towards the gates as Sakura sat at the bench near the fountain. Sakura placed her bag beside her and took out a book out of it. It was one of fiction genre which she had borrowed from the library. She was so absorbed in the book that Tomoyo had to bring Sakura's attention to her only when she called her thrice.

Sakura was startled at the call that she snapped her neck upwards quite sharply. She winced slightly as she massaged the back of her neck as she smiled up at her friend.

"Hello Tomoyo-chan! How was Music Club?" she asked as she placed her book in her bag. She stood up as she swung the bag around her shoulder.

"It went well. We were informed that the school was going to conduct a series of concerts. The first concert is going to be at the end of this month," said Tomoyo as the two started to walk towards the gates of the school.

"Really? That's nice. Then… that means…you are going to sing in the choir here again! That's great!" said Sakura, beaming.

Tomoyo smiled. "What about you, Sakura-chan? How do you find the track club?"

"The students here are really nice!" said Sakura enthusiastically. "There are some who are very fast. I saw some of the school team's runners practicing at the field beside ours. And they were really really fast! We were doing some exercises which the club head said is good for conditioning our legs."

She stopped after her description and her eyebrows furrowed, looking for the entire world that she had forgotten something.

"Didn't we tell Fujioka-kun that we'd wait for him at the fountain?" asked Sakura, her face clearing as she remembered the last conversation after Chemistry Lab that she had with the brown haired male. "Besides, only he knows the way to the nearest train station."

Tomoyo frowned as she looked at her watch. "Our train will arrive at about thirty minutes from now. If we miss it, we might get another train only after forty-five minutes. Maybe we can ask the people around for directions?"

Sakura thought for a while and then answered. "Why don't we wait for Haruhi-kun for another fifteen minutes? If he doesn't show up, we can leave on our own."

"Alright, Sakura-chan," said Tomoyo, nodding. "Come; let's sit at the bench near the fountain."

The two girls traced their footsteps back to the bench where they sat, side by side. Sakura pulled out the book that she was reading earlier while Tomoyo closed her eyes and started humming a tune from one of the songs she had learned in middle school. Almost ten minutes passed when someone approached the pair.

"Hey Kinomoto-san, Daidouji-san!" called a boy wearing the Ouran Uniform, who was running towards them. "Sorry for making you wait. But it became a bit late at the club." He panted as he came to a stop near the bench. He sat down on the bench next to Sakura to catch his breath. He had brown hair combed neatly and large brown eyes.

Only when Tomoyo said, "Fujioka-kun, are you alright?" did Sakura stop the blank stare treatment that she was giving him and realized that the boy beside him was indeed her fellow honor student.

"Fujioka-kun?" asked Sakura, with a tone of incredulity. "You look so different!"

Fujioka looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll explain to you as we leave."

Sakura and Tomoyo nodded and as they walked, Haruhi filled them in on the happenings at the Host Club, the debt and his eventual induction. He led them to the train station and there they parted ways to get their tickets, only to find that they were to take the same train. The train ride which was roughly forty minutes long was spent mostly in silence, though the three sometimes found some topics which interested all of them.

After arriving at Tomoeda, Sakura and Tomoyo took Tomoyo's limousine which was waiting at the entrance of the train station. It drove both of them to Sakura's house which took only ten minutes from the station.

When the two girls entered the Kinomoto residence, the house was dark. Even when Sakura flipped the switch near the door, the room remained unlit.

"Maybe the fuse blew out?" asked Tomoyo as she tried to grope the air around her to try and reach the wall. Her other hand was holding Sakura's hand. Sakura and Tomoyo removed their shoes and entered the house. Tomoyo's hand found a wall and she tugged Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, come with me! Let's go to the living room," said Tomoyo.

Sakura nodded in the dark. "Hai, Tomoyo-chan."

The two made their way through the darkness and reached the living room. However to their surprise, it was closed.

In all the years that Sakura lived in the Kinomoto residence, she couldn't remember a time when the living room door was closed. This made Sakura feel suspicious and apprehensive. She pushed open the door to a scene she thought made her first day of high school memorable.

In the room were colorful hanging lights, suspended with twines from the ceiling. The living room was decorated with streamers and other decorations that it was highlighted by the lights. Sakura's eyes caught some candles lit in the middle of the room and saw a cake which was placed on the table. Sakura felt a tug and turned to see Tomoyo leave her side to join the people who were already in the room.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAKURA!" cried all the people in the room.

That was when Sakura _looked_ at her well-wishers.

Tomoyo stood beside Li Mei Ling, who had Yanagizawa Naoko, Sasaki Rika and Mihara Chiharu, all of whom she was studying together with until middle school, beside her. Beside Chiharu, her brother Kinomoto Touya and his best friend, Tsukishiro Yukito stood, grinning. Her father, Kinomoto Fujitaka stood beside the false form of the moon guardian holding the cake-cutter and smiling loving at his daughter. Sakura's face was filled with joy as she beamed at her friends and family.

That was when she noticed one thing.

Mei Ling didn't live permenantly in Tomoeda.

Then that meant…

Sakura felt a pair of arms snake around her waist from behind her and she stiffened. A warm voice which she had sorely missed whispered, "Happy Birthday, my Ying Fa."

Sakura felt as if she could melt into goo with all the warmth in and around her that moment.

* * *

**Date: **Friday, April 5th

"What happened?" whispered Haruhi, as she adjusted the washed burette on the stand. Daidouji, who was emptying the contents of the pipette into the beaker, looked over at their male companion.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Kinomoto-san," replied Haruhi in the same low tones. "She seems awfully out of it."

"You noticed it?" asked Daidouji. "She's trying really hard to suppress it," she added with a giggle.

"She's so distracted today," stated Haruhi as she looked at the third member of the Chemistry Lab group. The auburn-haired girl was sitting on the stool reading the instructions of the experiment in the workbook. Her mouth was stretched into a small and constant smile as her eyes kept slowly drifting from the pages of the book. After day-dreaming for a few seconds, as if she had realized what she was doing, Kinomoto's eyes darted back to the book, though only for a few minutes. When Haruhi caught her day-dreaming one more time, she looked back at Tomoyo who was pouring the KMnO4 solution into the burette.

"Do you know what's wrong?" Haruhi asked Daidouji.

Daidouji didn't take her eyes off the burette and thrust it at Haruhi, asking him to check whether the level of the liquid was accurate. Haruhi took a long glance and nodded. Giving back the burette to the long-haired girl, she leaned on the table and asked her once more, "Well, do you?"

Daidouji glanced at him with the corner of her eyes and replied, "Yes, I do. However, it's not mine to tell. Ask her yourself if you want, Fujioka-kun. Let's finish the experiment first."

Haruhi nodded and turned to Kinomoto. She placed a hand on her shoulder and shook lightly. "What is the next thing that we should do?"

Kinomto seemingly startled out of her musings, jerked suddenly which caused the book on her lap to fall onto the floor. "Wha-?" she asked, disoriented.

Haruhi frowned slightly as she bent down and picked the book. "Here," she said, as she gave the book to the girl who looked back guiltily at her. "What are the next instructions?" she asked, her face in a gentle smile.

Kinomoto said, "I'm sorry, Fujioka-kun!" as she fumbled with the book to get to the right page. Once in the right page, she read out, "Heat the oxalic acid till the first sign of boiling is noted."

Haruhi nodded and placed the beaker on the stand above the Bunsen burner. "Matchstick?" she asked and Kinomoto took one from the shelf. She lighted the burner as Daidouji turned on the gas.

The rest of the experiment went on in relative silence only broken by Kinomoto's instructions. The class ended with the trio beaming at the _Good work_ comment left in their workbook by their teacher.

As the class filed out for lunch, Haruhi joined Kinomoto and Daidouji back to their class to pick up her lunch. As they were walking to the class 1-A, Haruhi remembered the strange way Kinomoto acted back at the lab and decided to ask about it.

"Kinomoto-san?" she called. Kinomoto who was walking with Daidouji turned around at the sound of her name.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure," said Kinomoto and shrugged. She turned around to face Haruhi who was walking towards the pair of girls. "What is it?" asked Kinomoto, smiling.

"You seemed very fidgety in Chemistry Lab. You always were meticulous before this. Is something wrong?" she asked.

Kinomoto's face flushed. She looked embarrassed about her distractedness being pointed out. "Uh… that's… well, a dear friend who I haven't seen for a long time came over and I'm going to go out with him…"

Haruhi smiled at Kinomoto, who was still pink in face. "Ah, sorry. That seemed personal," she said.

"Oh!" cried Sakura. "It's alright!"

Haruhi nodded and said, "Let's go to class for lunch, then."

Kinomoto and Daidouji nodded and followed the brown-haired boy. Suddenly, two blurs came at her and attached themselves to her sides.

"Haruhi~" they chorused.

Haruhi sighed. "Hikaru, Kaoru, what is it?"

"Come eat lunch with us, Haruhi!" said Hikaru.

"Let's go to the cafeteria!" said Kaoru.

"I brought a bento lunch-" said Haruhi, looking at Kaoru. She turned her head to the other side and said, "- and I want to eat it in class."

"Ano…" came a voice behind the trio. The twins left Haruhi's sides and the trio turned to the source of the noise. Sakura stood there looking uncomfortable beside Tomoyo who was busy taping the scene with her handy-cam.

"Who are you?" asked the twins in unison, in a bored tone.

Kinomoto bowed. "I'm Kinomoto Sakura. Hajimemashite."

Daidouji lowered her camera, smiled and bowed too. "Daidouji Tomoyo, pleasured to meet you." She raised her camera once again and started filming Sakura and the twins.

"Hitachiin Hikaru and Hitachiin Kaoru," said the twins simultaneously.

"Ano, which is which?" asked Sakura, her face curious.

The twins grinned, devilish smiles entering their faces. They leaned close to Sakura and Kaoru whispered, "I'm only going to tell this once. And only once." Then Hikaru continued, "Then, you have to play a game with us. If you win, you can be our friend."

Haruhi stood between the twins watching them talk with Sakura. She wondered absently about her lunch and her focus returned to her talking classmate when she saw light reflecting off the lens of the camera held by Tomoyo. Somehow, that reminded her of Kyouya-senpai… Her attention turned to Kinomoto as she said, "Alright." She had the feeling that the twins were up to no good again.

The twin to Haruhi's right introduced himself as Hikaru and the other, to her left, introduced himself as Kaoru.

"Now, we are going to play: _Which one is Hikaru?_ Game!" chorused the twins.

The twins pulled out a cap from their pant pockets and slipped it on. Then they switched places so quickly that Haruhi wondered if they were magical. After a while, they stopped.

"Observation and guessing isn't really my type. Maybe you should play with Tomoyo-chan?" suggested Kinomoto.

The twins vehemently shook their heads. "Only you have to play with us."

Haruhi watched with interest as Kinomoto closed her eyes. After a few seconds, her face set itself in a determined expression and she opened her eyes as she answered, "Hitachiin Kaoru-san," pointing to the twin to her left and added, "Hitachiin Hikaru-san," while pointing towards the one to the right.

Haruhi noted that Kinomoto was, indeed, right. But the twins intoned, "Wrong!"

Haruhi wanted to interject but was cut off by Kinomoto even before she opened her mouth.

"Oh, well. I guessed wrong," was her answer, her voice cheerful. "I'm sorry that I can't be your friend. I'm sure you'll find one soon!"

The twins' eyes narrowed. They said, "Once again," and switched positions again. Haruhi noted that the boys were in the same position as last time.

Kinomoto closed her eyes again and opened them. This time however, Kinomoto's eyes grew wide and she turned around sharply. She then turned to face the twins again but looked at a spot above the twins, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Daidouji tapped her on her shoulder, calling her name.

Kinomoto started slightly and looked at Daidouji in confusion. Daidouji pointed to the twins and Haruhi waiting for Kinomoto to play the game. Kinomoto, at once, looked sheepish.

Haruhi was intrigued by Kinomoto's strange actions, which took place minutes prior. She only vaguely noted Kinomoto saying the right answer once again and the twins telling her that she was wrong once again.

Kinomoto, however, was still cheerful. "Oh well, I guess this game isn't my thing at all!"

She then turned to Daidouji and spoke in low tones from which Haruhi could glean only the words: 'talk', 'urgent', 'Sharon' and 'Kero-chan'. Daidouji nodded to her friend and fiddled with her handy-cam.

The twins who had gone back to flank Haruhi after playing the game with their new prospective 'toy', caught Haruhi staring at the two girls from their class.

"Haruhi~!" they said, as they sandwiched the cross-dressing girl between them. "Why don't we go to class to eat lunch?"

"Sure," murmured Haruhi, still looking at Kinomoto's panicked face and Daidouji's calm, reassuring one. She was then turned around by the twins who marched her to their class. "Say, why did you tell her that she was wrong when she was obviously right?"

The twins stopped in their tracks. "What?" they asked in unison.

Haruhi wriggled from their slackened grip on her hands and said, "Kinomoto-san identified you correctly, both times. Why did you not agree with her?"

Hikaru's face grew bitter for a minute and then became blank again leaving Haruhi wondering if she had imagined it. "She was lucky," said Kaoru, his voice slightly soft.

"Maybe if you ask her to identify you once you've spent some time with her so that she can know about your quirks, she can identify you too!" said Haruhi.

"Identify us _too_? No one can do so," said Hikaru, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know about the others, but I can," said Haruhi. Her stomach growled in hunger.

"See you later, guys," said Haruhi, as she continued her way to the classroom, thinking of all the things she had to buy in the supermarket later that evening.

* * *

The Hitachiin twins were left frozen on the corridor as they pondered about Haruhi's proclamation. Twin grins made way into their faces as they ran to catch up behind Haruhi.

Now, they certainly _would_ have to test _that_, wouldn't they?

* * *

**A/N:** Reviews are welcome. Constructive criticisms are loved. Thanks for reading! 


	3. Chapter 2

**Entwined**

**- Dragoink **

**Chapter Two**

**Place:** Kinomoto Residence, Tomoeda

**Date:** Friday, April 5th

Sakura had been in a frenzy ever since she felt that cold, depressing aura near the Chemistry Lab Room. As soon as she reached home, she rushed to her room with Tomoyo at her heels and demanded that Kero stopped playing his video games and listen to her or he was not going to get pudding for a week.

Kero had been, in his defense, shocked that Sakura would be so out of character, so different from her own cheerful, optimistic self. But this sudden change in her demeanor did not fail to drive home the seriousness of whatever situation Sakura was in. Hence, he paused his game, switched off the TV and flew up to the table and sat on it, cross-legged.

"What happened, Sakura-chan?" he enquired in his most serious voice.

Sakura looked up, shocked from her slump to see Kero was as serious as he had been so many years ago.

She said, "I… I can't seem to control my Sight, Kero-chan," in a miserable voice. "I don't know… it activated today and it's intensity shocked me badly. I was able to feel everything. The aura of each and every person in the vicinity. And then, there was a dark aura… I'm not able to describe it in detail, Kero-chan… but I was feeling so depressed that one second that it shocked me temporarily…"

Kero looked thoughtful. "I see. Did you feel happy the next moment?"

Sakura nodded while thinking hard.

"And how many people were there around you?"

"Um… ten or eleven?"

Kero sighed in what seemed to be relief. "That's good then," he murmured. Out loud though, he said, "I think you just felt the collective emotions in the aura of every individual in the vicinity. Sadness always seems to be a separate feeling in aura detection, for reasons I don't know. You don't have to worry, Sakura-chan… I think that whoever was in the corridor with you had either a very acute sadness or one that had been festering for a long time. Where did you feel it?"

"Behind me…"

"Maybe the person behind you was the source of the sadness… But sometimes, very strong sadness could be projected out to a distance too."

"Are you sure, Kero-chan? I'm sorry that that person had to experience sadness so great… but I don't even know who it belonged to… I wish I can do something to help them…"

Kero flew from the table to Sakura's head and patted it. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Just enjoy your date with the Kid. Keep your mind off things. We'll help you take care of things if they ever come up"

Tomoyo removed her video-camera from her eye. "We'll always be here for you, Sakura-chan. Everything will be alright."

Sakura smiled at her friends. "Thank you, Tomoyo-chan, Kero-chan."

The rest of the evening went without a hitch with Sakura's mindset set back at default.

* * *

**Date: **Monday, April 8th

**Place:** Ouran High School, Chemistry Lab Two.

Sakura said goodbye to Haruhi, who had apologized about not being able to eat lunch with them, since he had work to do at his club. Tomoyo had waved off his concerns, and Sakura was secretly pleased to be rid of her new friend, if only for the sake of the investigation of the aura, which had been nagging her for the better part of the weekend. Sakura had told Syaoran about it, only for him to get worried and ask her to check the potency of the maliciousness of the aura by spreading out her own aura, closing her eyes and checking the colour of the mentioned aura.

Sakura knew that standing outside the Lab closing her eyes would look stupid to passer-byes and used _Illusion_ to give them the image of two students talking to each other regarding an assignment given in the Lab. Then, to the close scrutiny of Tomoyo's video camera, Sakura closed her eyes.

She slowly picked her aura and let it out, in gentle waves. She heard Tomoyo gasp and reduced the strength of the aura, knowing that it was too strong that even non-magic people could have felt a sudden tingling sensation if she had kept it up.

It was a struggle for Sakura to keep the aura restrained and her face was scrunched up in concentration, her skin perspiring. It made her hot and bothered to keep her magic consciously contained within the confines of her will and only the thought of the disaster which would occur if she let it go out of control helped her keep it up. She slowly extricated her concentration from her task and checked the auras tapped by her own spreading one. Tomoyo's aura was soothing and calm; Sakura smiled at the happiness she could feel and guessed that it was Tomoyo's happiness on taping Sakura while she was performing magic. As her aura spread and spread to the entire school, calming those who it passed through and giving them hope, Sakura gasped as she felt an aura which, she then claimed, was depression and anger personified, come from a place below her. Sure, there was some sadness in many of the students, but this one aura seemed to be made up of just those feelings. When Sakura withdrew her probing magic to her own body, she could still feel the aura and suddenly felt it move. Sakura darted past Tomoyo, muttering a quick 'Sorry' to her best-friend and ran towards the source. She was reminded of the time when she caught the _Void_; the depression and sadness that had come at the thought of losing her most important feeling. She tried to figure out if the aura felt anything like a Clow Card. Sakura shook her head, as she rushed past students, trying her hardest not to knock any unsuspecting figure onto the floor, and successfully reached the entrance of the building. The aura didn't seem like one of the Cards; somehow, it felt deeper and older. Sakura couldn't tell how though.

Walking in the grounds seemed pointless and Sakura continued running towards the source of the strange feeling she felt. She stopped after a time before what seemed to be a crowded – by Ouran's standards – garden, decorated with streamers and balloons. The aura slipped away from her awareness during her moment of distraction. Moments after a thought that it might be some birthday party she might be intruding on, a shout came from within the crowd, calling her name.

Sakura's eyes darted past the students towards the voice calling out to her. It seemed to come closer, and Sakura found that it was Haruhi who made his way towards her.

"Sakura, Tomoyo," he said, nodding his head towards her and Tomoyo, who had come to stop beside her. Sakura looked at her friend in surprise and then turned towards Haruhi.

"Someone's birthday?" she asked, curious. Sakura couldn't feel the mysterious aura any longer and decided to put it aside for now. "Is this what you were doing?"

Haruhi scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Sorry, it was my club President's birthday, and I was asked to help out in preparations. The party just started. It's for the Club members and their clients."

"We'll leave, then," said Tomoyo, nodding.

"It's alright," blurted out Haruhi. "I'll tell them you're my friends and clients. Come in and enjoy yourself with the cake and juice."

"Are you sure?" asked Sakura, after exchanging a dubious glance with her best-friend.

Haruhi nodded decisively. "Yeah."

Sakura nodded and said, "Introductions?"

Haruhi smiled and took them to where the rest of the Host Club was and made introductions, making a point to add his own comments to his friends once they were out of range.

Sakura didn't think much about the aura after that. She only wondered how scarily well Haninozuka-senpai and Kero-chan would get along.

* * *

**Date:** Friday, April 12th

**Place: **Ouran High School, Class 1-A

"We have a new student today. She was to join us on the first day of the new year, but their family was held up in Russia due to a blizzard. They had to stay there for a week for the skies to clear up. Please welcome Kodaru Naomi-san," Sato-sensei said and he turned around to write the student's name, after suggesting her to introduce herself. The girl bowed slightly.

"My name is Kodaru Naomi," she said, her shoulder length red hair swaying in the draft of wind through the windows. "I hope we can be good friends." Her voice was smooth, the tenor calm and pleasing.

"You can take a seat behind Daidouji-san," said Sato-sensei, once he had written her name on the board. Kodaru bowed to him as well and walked down the aisle to her table.

Sakura, who had been getting a book out while Kodaru walked past her, suddenly felt a chilling glance that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She whipped her head up only to see no one as Kodaru reached her seat and sat down. Sakura in a quest to decide the direction of the chilled glare she felt, turned her head around only to see Kodaru glancing at her curiously. She smiled sheepishly at her which Kodaru returned with a small smile and an imperceptible nod of her head. Sakura wondered why she felt giddy all of a sudden and then with a small smile of her own remembered the year when she seemed to have such bad luck with all the transfer students: yes, her fifth grade in Tomoeda Elementary was something that couldn't be forgotten about.

_Calculus_ required that Sakura give her sensei her utmost attention and soon Sakura was immersed in the world of equations and numbers. Classes continued on until lunch without anything noteworthy happening and during lunch, Sakura and Tomoyo got up and walked to the doors of the classroom, after making a stop at Fujioka's table, surprising all those who deigned to pay attention to the two girls. They were soon joined by Fujioka as they walked towards the Cafeteria where they decided to eat their lunch at just for a trial. Fujioka, for his part, brought his own bento, as a force of habit; he had completely forgotten about their decision on the train the afternoon before. He had smiled sheepishly at the girls who had been standing at his table as he held the cloth-tied bento box in one hand looking up at them; Sakura insisted that Fujioka at least brought the bento to the cafeteria.

As the trio walked towards the cafeteria, Fujioka and Tomoyo immersed in a conversation regarding newspaper crosswords, Sakura, feeling as if she were being followed, turned her head only to find their new student, Kodaru Naomi, walking silently behind them. Sakura, ever the social butterfly, tugged at Tomoyo's sleeve and without saying another word, turned around and beamed at their new classmate.

"Hey, Kodaru-chan?" she called, grinning. "Would you like to join us for lunch?"

Kodaru looked up, and brushing back her hair and tucking it behind her ear, she smiled shyly and said, "Okay."

Sakura grinned and introduced herself and her friends. She made sure that Kodaru was comfortable as she enquired about her new classmate.

Kodaru, she realized, was quite shy, but had a strong opinion about things she knew about. When she spoke of her old school in Britain or her siblings, who, Sakura understood, had also transferred to Ouran High School, her eyes lit up with a fiery gaze that Sakura could see dancing with the dark blue eyes.

Sakura knew that lunch during Friday was given in the same hour for the first and the third years, for the second year had an extra class to fit in on the last day of the week. This resulted in them having lunch a little later than the rest of the school. Nevertheless, she was surprised when a boy, certainly taller than the quartet came over to their table and said a small, "Hey."

Kodaru looked up from her tray of soba noodles and gave a bright smile when her eyes chanced upon the intruder.

"Hey," she said in return and looked over to the rest of her table-mates. Sakura smiled and nodded, causing Kodaru to scoot over to allow some space.

"Everyone," she announced. "This is my brother, Raito."

Kodaru's brother had chestnut hair and blue eyes, almost the same shade as his youngest sister. Raito smiled when Naomi introduced her new friends to him, leaning over to shake Fujioka's hand, by what seemed to be force of habit.

Sakura looked confusedly at Naomi, who rolled her eyes. Haruhi seemed to know what to do and he shook Raito's hand, with a slight smile.

Conversations then sprang up when Raito mentioned something about the cloth of the uniform and Tomoyo took her opportunity. Sakura smiled slightly and shook her head exasperated when she caught Haruhi's eye. Haruhi seemed amused about Tomoyo's never-ending obsession with clothes and designing them. It seemed that Raito also had a passion for designing but couldn't pursue it, said Naomi ruefully, for he had to run their father's factories as his Heir.

* * *

"Do you want to come to the Host Club today, Saku-chan?" asked Hani, for almost the twentieth time since he had met her. Sakura said her usual excuse.

"Haninozuka-senpai, you know that I have Club to -"

"Kyou-chan said that Track Club had been cancelled because the President had been injured!" cried Hani. Sakura gawked at her senior and only then remembered that Aya had stopped by informed her while leaving History that day.

To Sakura's horror, Hani's eyes filled with tears. "Don't you -" His lower lip wobbled. "- don't you l-like us… Saku-chan?"

"I… I just forgot, Haninozuka-senpai!" said Sakura, as she looked around frantically. She then dropped to her knees and placed her hands on Hani's shoulder. "I'll come," she said in a solemn voice, all the while wondering why she was doing so.

"With friends!" cried Hani, his tears vanishing immediately.

"With friends…" agreed Sakura, weakly.

Hani gave a cheerful, "See you later!" to her and paid her no more attention. He left the corridor, talking to his cousin about how "Eating cake with Saku-chan will be _awesome!_"

* * *

Tomoyo was talking to the Hitachiin Twins about the type of cloth best used for making some specific type of clothes while Kodaru was sitting with the Third Years, noted Haruhi as she walked around refilling the tea and cake to all tables. She walked to her own after the rest of the tables were served and sat across Sakura, who was sipping her own tea. Haruhi smiled.

"So, what do you think?" she asked, gesturing vaguely.

"The atmosphere is peaceful," said Sakura, her lips quirking.

Haruhi blinked and then nodded, noticing that the Host Club _did_ seem quiet that day. "It is, isn't it? When all the noise is down like this. It isn't usually like this, though," she said, her eyebrows furrowing, as she surreptiously glanced around. The twins were toned down than usual, but were enthusiastically talking with Tomoyo on what she presumed was clothing, Tamaki was entertaining his guest in a rather… _distracted_ manner and Kyouya was working on his laptop, seemingly dead to the rest of the world. Even Hani-senpai and Mori-senpai were at performing their usual acts in a mellowed manner.

Sakura noticed this and grinned. "Well, better to enjoy it while it lasts, eh?"

Haruhi hid her smile behind her cup.

"So," started Sakura, after several moments of inane chatter. "- tell me about yourself, Haruhi-kun. I realized I don't know much about you except the stop you get down at the train station."

"Hmmm," considered Haruhi. "I live in a flat at Shinjioka District and get into the train at Shinoa Train Station. I live with my father in the first floor of the Saito apartment complex. My father is a cross-dresser and works in an okama bar."

"I'm sorry about your mother," said Sakura, after a few moments. Haruhi looked at her surprised.

"Wha -"

"I live with my father too, in Tomoeda. My brother is studying in the Tokyo Med-U right around the corner. He stays at the hostel there with his friend. Do you have any hobbies? Ambitions?"

"Uh… Reading books is my hobby, I guess. I dream to become a lawyer."

"Lawyer… that's sounds like tough work…"

"It is supposed to be. I want to follow my mother's footsteps. What about you?"

"My father is an archeologist. My brother, a doctor. I want to be a computer engineer."

"That's admirable. A multi-dimensional family, eh?"

Sakura blushed and grinned.

"So, any activities in your old school, Fujioka-kun?"

"Well, I _was _on the decathlon team that was set-up last year temporarily. It got disbanded pretty soon. What about you? The track team, I'd wager."

Sakura smiled. "Yeah, and the cheerleading squad. We'd do somersaults and twirls and jumps and… it's generally a lot of fun."

"I haven't seen the appeal in such sweaty activities myself," said Haruhi, in a sort of superior voice.

Sakura blinked for a moment and then grinned. "Oh, of course," she said ironically, knowing that he must be used to the tiresome day-to-day _sweaty _ chores, being the only young man in a middle class household. Sakura marveled at how lucky she was with such a father and brother.

"Do you like it here? At the Host Club?"

Haruhi looked taken aback by her question and so, Sakura clarified, "You seemed to be exasperated and frustrated when you recounted your debt incident to us."

The two girls didn't notice the Club Members had gone silent. They continued on with the client's voices in the background.

"It's alright, I guess," Haruhi said, sipping at her cup, thoughtfully. "It was quite hectic at first, but it's getting better now." She smiled.

"It must be difficult to get used to such grandeur, isn't it? So much money, wasted, don't you think?" Sakura continued in a whisper.

Haruhi considered, narrowing her eyes. She shrugged. "It's their money, they can use it however they want. But, yes, it is irksome, now and then."

Sakura relaxed into the chair. "I was overwhelmed the first time I went over to Tomoyo's house too. I was ten when my father agreed to let me out alone to her house. I was awed by the size of the place."

Haruhi smiled. "I assume you've gotten used to it?"

"Yeah," said Sakura nodding.

Time seemed to fly as the two talked about favourite foods and favourite temples and favourite festivals that it was soon time to close the Host Club and head home. Tomoyo and Kodaru bid good-bye to their Hosts and walked towards the commoners of Ouran.

The two packed their bags and walked out after Haruhi informed the Club President and Vice-President. They reached the foot of the stairs where Naomi went over to Raito who was sitting at the armchairs at the lounge, reading a book.

"Onii-san!" said Naomi; Haruhi, Sakura and Tomoyo trailing behind their friend.

Raito looked up at his sister and smiled. "Hello," he said, as he nodded at the gaggle of girls and boy. "Ready to go?"

"Where's Taka and Aki?" asked Naomi, after nodding at her brother. Raito placed his book in his bag and stood.

"Outside," he said.

They walked out of the building, towards the fountain. There, they could see a boy sitting at the rim of the fountain, one of his hands lapping the water and the other fiddling with his phone. His brother was sitting in the bench that Sakura and Tomoyo usually waited after their club hours.

"Taka! Aki!" cried Naomi, waving her hand.

Aki, on the platform of the fountain, jerked up at Naomi's shout and lost his balance and flailed. His cell-phone was clutched tightly in his hand. Sakura and Tomoyo gasped. Haruhi stared and Raito started to run. Taka shot up from his place at the bench and pulled Aki's hand before he fell into the water. Aki placed a hand over his heart and panted. However, he was smiling when he caught sight of his elder brother, sister and their friends. He said a thanks to his twin and turned to them.

"Sorry," mumbled Naomi, when they reached the fountain.

"'Tis alright," said Akira; Taka pulled him to his feet.

"Watch where we are before you shout, little sister," said Taka, stiffly.

Sakura watched Raito frown and stared warily at Taka. Naomi looked at the ground, chastened.

"Shall we go on, then?" suggested Tomoyo and caused Sakura to jerk out of her thoughts. Haruhi nodded, looking at the siblings blankly.

When Sakura looked at her watch, her face paled.

"Oh God! We're late!" she cried, startling everyone. "We have to go," she said to Naomi and Raito and nodded to the Second Year twins. "We'll see you on Monday then, Naomi-chan. Happy weekend! I have to get my skates," She looked at Haruhi and Tomoyo who nodded and then ran towards the Sports Room lockers to grab her skates. By the time she reached the fountain, she found that the Kodarus were gone and Haruhi and Tomoyo stood up and walked out of the Ouran gates with her.

Somewhere on the back of her mind, the strange behaviour of the Kodaru siblings sat, ready to spring up at the next opportune moment for further scrutiny.

* * *

Long after his daughter left the Club with three other girls, Tamaki stood from his chair and walked over to Kyouya, beckoning the other members over with a wave of his hand. The six boys sat around the small table, the air tense.

"We should watch the three girls who have become my daughter's friends. We must approve of them discretely and curb the friendship if there is anything unsavoury in our findings," said Tamaki. "Kyouya?"

The Ootori intoned, "The girl who was Fujioka's client is Kinomoto Sakura. She is a commoner and her father and brother have no criminal records. She studied at the Seijou Middle School and did exceptionally in her last year of middle school. She has entered Ouran under the scholarship, securing the same marks as Haruhi." His tone took on a subtle surprise. "This year's the first time the scholarship has been shared. We can expect great things," finished Kyouya.

Kaoru said, "Daidouji isn't have bad, either. She has a good sense of fashion designing. And she's in our class. We can't find anything off about her." Hikaru nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"Kodaru Naomi is new to Ouran as well. It seems that all the newcomers are becoming attached to each other. Kodaru's brothers, Kodaru Taka and Kodaru Akira joined our class recently, Tamaki." Kyouya finished his report and closed the black notebook.

"Tama-chan! Saku-chan is sweet! She came to the Host Club only on my invite and I think she enjoyed herself here. Kodaru Raito is in our class too," said Hani, nodding his head at Mori at the last statement.

Tamaki went on a tangent. "Yes, yes, my beautiful Host Club will make even seemingly-evil-friends-of-my-daughter enjoy themselves! Such is the power of my Host Club… the power of Love!"

The Host Club, trained to react to the whims of their 'King', went along with the distraction.

Doubt festered in the back of their minds and once it reared its head, they decided to make sure that the Host Club princess was indeed in good hands.

One statement went through their minds. _Kinomoto Sakura, Daidouji Tomoyo and Kodaru Naomi, watch out… The Host Club is onto you._

* * *

**Date:** Tuesday, April 17th

**Place:** Unknown Location

"Windy!"

The birds around her were removed squawking as Sakura summoned magical wind to drive them away. She peered around in the darkness and whispered "Glow!" Small green lights shimmered around her as the sprite landed on Sakura's shoulder.

"Is there anything on the path, Glow?" she asked, as she headed cautiously through her chosen path. She walked straight and stopped at what seemed like a dead end. Sakura groaned and turned around.

"Now, what do I do?" she asked no one in particular as the mischievous sprite giggled. Sakura threw a half-hearted glare.

She didn't take two steps back her path that a burst of fire caused her to use "Jump!" As she soared above the ground, the walls of the maze seemed to go higher, but this did not surprise Sakura. The first time she had entered the maze, she had gotten the idea to fly and check out a route. No matter how high she flew, the walls seemed to get higher and hence she couldn't find her way out in any way other than on foot.

It didn't mean that she couldn't use it for combat though.

Using Fly and Jump, she avoided her attacks and was able to catch a glimpse of her attacker. It was a bit like a reptile and had something like a pod on its back. It was breathing fire through its mouth.

"A Rodensha," she murmured and quickly her mind tried to get to what they had learnt last summer. She knew using Watery was no use, the flames of the Rodensha was too hot that it might evaporate the water attack. It took her nearly five minutes, when she was trying to bolt out of the fire attack in the narrow corridor, that using Shield seemed to be the best option, to remember what the book had said. On using Shield, however, she felt her magic catching the blows of the fire, as it tried to melt the Shield.

"Shield!" cried Sakura, and successfully conveyed to her card to trap the beast into its protection. She then called out Lightning to attack the area within the shield to complete the job.

Once the Rodensha had incinerated in the spot, Sakura clutched her staff and walked where her heart asked her to. It was quite a long time before Sakura reached a place where she could see a light at the end of the road.

However, a voice asked her to stop, whimpering as if in pain. Sakura turned around, looking for the source of the noise. She walked towards the small hedge in the maze, holding her breath, telling herself over and over that it was all a trick.

What she saw made her stomach fall and icy dread chill her blood.

Syaoran, Tomoyo and Touya lay dead, mangled bodies heaped, one on top of the other. Their eyes were not closed and Sakura was forced to look into their glassy eyes. A small voice spoke from the back of her mind,_ 'You will not interfere in our plans, princess' _The designation was spoken mockingly. _'We will make sure of that.'_

Sakura blinked and the apparition was gone. She thought that it was one of the strange things that the maze had cooked up, turned around and walked towards the light of the night. Her dread didn't leave her though and as soon as she stepped out of the maze, she launched herself at Syaoran, who was looking at her with pride.

Syaoran was quite taken aback by Sakura's behaviour and when he heard some of Sakura's hysterical ramblings about him being alive, Syaoran narrowed his eyes at the swirling green mass. The mass briefly settled into the form of a woman, shrugged its shoulders and then started swirling again.

Sakura recovered after a few moments and sighed, moving away from Syaoran, wiping her eyes in the back of her sleeve. She sent a smile at Tomoyo and her guardians who came running towards them.

"Is everything alright, Sakura?" asked Keroberos, worriedly.

Sakura nodded, sending a glance towards Syaoran. Syaoran was threw a smile at her and walked on towards the maze perimeter, to remove the Li creature ofudas. Tomoyo continued to praise a blushing Sakura, video-taping her in all angles.

It was later that night, when Sakura, Tomoyo, Syaoran and Yukito were all home, that Touya felt the first vestiges of power, from outside the house, in the direction of Penguin Park. He concentrated on the power only to find that it was large amount of Star and Moon magic. There was also an undeniable trace of foreign magic in the area, but it wasn't very malevolent.

Touya only scowled when he thought of what his little Monster and the Brat had going on.

* * *

**Date:** Friday, April 21.

**Place: **Ouran High School Campus

Haruhi didn't know where her bag could have gotten to. She had searched high and low: the Music Room, the 1-A Classroom, the Science Lab locker room. It wasn't at any of the places she frequently visited for a quiet place to study. She didn't want to tell her club-mates her problem for she was certain they would kick up such a fuss that would give her a headache. She did mention to Sakura and Tomoyo to keep an eye out for her bag.

This was before the lead customer of the Host Club gave her an unflattering warning. As Haruhi was passing by her on the way out of the Host Club, during one of her Instant Coffee runs, the 'Princess' had said in a low voice, "I'll get you out of the Club, if it's the last thing I do."

It was dramatic and just like those movies, mused Haruhi as she entertained her guests as she best did: by being herself.

Just as she finished her club activities, she heard Kyouya-senpai call her name.

"Kinomoto is outside," he said, his eyes never leaving the laptop. "She says she has something for you."

Haruhi thanked him, ignored the smirk and met up with an apprehensive Sakura outside.

"Haruhi-kun," she said. "I've found your bag and its contents."

"And?" asked Haruhi.

"And I don't think you are going to like it," replied Sakura. They spent the rest of the walk in silence.

Haruhi saw Sakura lead them to the fountain on the other side of the school, near the Track team had their grounds for running. Floating on the water was all her belongings.

Haruhi felt rage rise up in her, but tamped it down with ease. She sighed and bent down to roll up her pant sleeves.

Sakura, on her side, removed her shoes and socks and set them neatly near the foot of the bench. She waited until Haruhi was finished and entered the fountain.

'_Her dress is going to get dirty' _thought Haruhi and she turned around to tell her friend that. It was only then that she noticed her wearing a loose shirt and shorts, ending just a little above her knee.

Her next thought was _'She came to the Host Club like that?'_

Sakura looked up from her search, a soggy notebook in her hand, looking apologetic.

Haruhi thanked the Gods that the notes in her bag were quite few and could be copied again in a few days' work. Sakura placed the notebook on the edge of the fountain and resumed her search. Haruhi stuck her hands into the water too, feeling for her things.

It was almost ten minutes later, that almost all items were uncovered by the duo. When they were search for Haruhi's wallet, there was the sound of another person entering the fountain's waters. Sakura, intent on the wallet-search, didn't seem to notice. Haruhi, however, did.

"Tamaki-senpai!" exclaimed Haruhi. "What are you doing here?"

Sakura looked up then. "Suoh-san?" she inquired.

Tamaki looked from Haruhi to Sakura and grinned. "I've come to help you, my dau- son!"

Haruhi was surprised. "Oh, you don't have to, Tamaki-senpai. We're fine."

Tamaki smiled and shook his head. "It's alright, Haruhi. I'd like to help."

Haruhi looked at him for a moment and then looked at Sakura, who shrugged. She turned towards Tamaki again and nodded.

The three of them searched for the elusive wallet and Tamaki was the lucky one who managed to obtain it. He looked at Haruhi, who smiled in relief.

"Thank you, Tamaki-senpai, Sakura-chan, for all you help. You needn't have…" she started.

"Nonsense!" cried Sakura, who then grinned. "What are friends for?"

Haruhi smiled at Sakura and turned to Tamaki, who gave her a grin.

The three students got out of the fountain and the two girls were handed a towel each by Tamaki, after they sat at the edge of the fountain.

Haruhi and Sakura were surprised, but gladly took the cloth and dried their legs. They walked to the bench barefoot and then wore their socks and shoes.

Sakura looked at her watch and sighed. She ran a hand through her mid-back length auburn hair. "I've got to get to the Track lockers. To change and what not. I'll meet you by the fountain?" she asked of Haruhi.

Haruhi nodded and mumbled a "Sure."

Sakura gave Tamaki a smile and said, "Good bye, Suoh-san!"

"Bye, Sakura-hime," he replied, with a flirtatious wink.

Sakura's smile turned fond as she gave a bow and turned away.

"Shall we go, my dearest daughter? We can dry your things in the Club room. There must be one there…"

Haruhi hummed, thinking. "I can only do that for about the next fifteen minutes. After that, I've got to leave. How am I going to take my stuff?"

Tamaki brightened. "I will be your knight!" he exclaimed, out of nowhere.

"…what?"

"I shall stay here and guard your things, until you get back!"

"…that's not…"

"Yes, that shall be the Plan!"

"Senpai…"

"Beware, demons and dragons, I, Suoh Tamaki, am standing guard tonight to protect my daughter's belongings from your evil clutches!"

"SENPAI!"

"Yes, my dearest?"

"I'm going to keep my things under the locker room dryer, except my wallet, and I'll take them with me later. The room's going to be locked anyway, so you needn't 'stand guard'"

Tamaki was in the 'depressed' corner in seconds.

Haruhi sighed.

* * *

A/N: Constructive Criticism is appreciated. Reviews are loved.

So, hello friends! I thank you for your encouragement in the last chapter, and I hope to make this ride enjoyable for you. My updates will be a bit slow, but please bear with me.

Thank you for sticking around! Tell me what you think of the characters here, whether they are IC, or hopelessly OC, whether what I write makes sense, and whether there are any errors in my writing.

And thank you reviewers: MangaFreak3, xdayanarax, TriForceandSheikahArts, Ice-faery, Flocon de Neige, nevvy, Kage Hakari, KizunaOtakuArashi, DragonFire Princess, shallu engira shalaka, Yuuri

To be continued, if you want…


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